Problem : Bleeding Brakes

[Ludvig]

Hi all! 

I own a 2012 Ford Focus, and recently the brakepad on the right-hand side kind of hung up, and after a while my rim got really hot!  

I decided to change both pads and discs on the left and right-hand side in the front. I cleaned the caliper and added new paste. 

Mounted the brakes and everything was going fine. I`ve done this on other cars before, so Im not quite new to this, but not on this car. 

But to the problem! 

After the change, I have to push the brakepedal almost to the ground before the brake reacts. If I push the pedal again it firms up a bit, and after the third push on the pedal, it reacts like normal. But after driving a bit, it is the same. The pedal gets totallt soft. 
I thought it was air in the system, so I started bleeding the system, but with no luck. I cant see any fluidleak in the system. 
When bleeding the rear calipers, there is a "breathing" sound. Like someone is holding their breath and then letting it out. But I can`t see any air in the fluid. Only clear fluid. 
I`ve bleed the brakes a couple of times now, but still no results. 

Any ideas what the problem is or am I doing something wrong ? 

Thanks for any replies! 

 

 

[Luke4efc]

Did you remove the cap on the fluid reservoir when you wound the piston back in?

Double check you haven't put too much strain on the brake hoses and split one.

[Ludvig]

10 minutes ago, Luke4efc said:

Did you remove the cap on the fluid reservoir when you wound the piston back in?

Double check you haven't put too much strain on the brake hoses and split one.

Thanks for the reply! 

Yes, the cap was removed. 
Im pretty sure the hoses are OK, but I will look closer, as you never know. But would`nt it be somekind of fluid-leak if so? 

[Luke4efc]

10 minutes ago, Ludvig said:

But would`nt it be somekind of fluid-leak if so? 

Yes, but it can be so minute you'd barely notice it.

[Ludvig]

All hoses are OK. Did sime bleeding just now. I noticed the fluid ran much slower on the back calipers, but the front ones it flows faster. Is it just because it is closer to the cylinder? 

 

[Luke4efc]

That may be something to do with the ABS module. Not 100% though so maybe someone else can chip in.

[MasterTechTip]

On 10/1/2020 at 8:14 PM, Ludvig said:

All hoses are OK. Did sime bleeding just now. I noticed the fluid ran much slower on the back calipers, but the front ones it flows faster. Is it just because it is closer to the cylinder? 

 

The rears do bleed a lot slower this is normal. I'd recommend doing a power bleed through IDS or Forscan (if it has the option too). This is the best way to bleed the brakes as it uses the ABS pump to force fluid through the ABS unit and all the hoses. 

[Ludvig]

23 hours ago, MasterTechTip said:

The rears do bleed a lot slower this is normal. I'd recommend doing a power bleed through IDS or Forscan (if it has the option too). This is the best way to bleed the brakes as it uses the ABS pump to force fluid through the ABS unit and all the hoses. 

Thanks for the reply! 

I`ve seen alot of people talking about this "FORscan" software. Is it any good? Maybe I`ll buy a licence and try it out and bleed through it.

[Tizer]

33 minutes ago, Ludvig said:

I`ve seen alot of people talking about this "FORscan" software. Is it any good? Maybe I`ll buy a licence and try it out and bleed through it.

You only need to buy a Licence if you want to do Configuration and Programming. ABS service Bleed is a service Procedure so you don't need a Licence for that, but the procedure is not available for all car models.

You do need a proper adaptor though because some of the clones do not work properly.

There is a video on youtube where someone that shows how it is done.  

[Ludvig]

4 minutes ago, Tizer said:

You only need to buy a Licence if you want to do Configuration and Programming. ABS Service Bleed is a Service Procedure so you don't need a Licence for that, but the procedure is not available for all car models.

You do need a proper adaptor though because some of the clones do not work properly.

There is a video on youtube where someone that shows how it is done.  

Thanks alot! 

I`ll check this out! 

[Luke4efc]

You don't need to pay for the full licence. You can keep getting them on 3-month 'trials'. They only introduced the paid lifetime licence recently.